Free Devil's Workday (Devil Aster Days Book 1) by Mitchell Olson Page B

As far as architecture goes, it was a sight to behold. The enormous palace stood fifteen stories tall, with even taller, seemingly randomly placed towers jutting out from all over. The whole thing was square shaped, and covered a very large amount of ground. Below the ground, a deep and complex labyrinth of tunnels ran underneath the castle serving as a prison. All along the castle walls guards were stationed as a last line of defense should demons ever fully invade.
    Aster entered the castle and made his way to the first basement floor, otherwise known as the Main Royal Guard Barracks. On his way, several soldiers welcomed him back, to which he would usually nod and maybe give a fake smile. Today he was not in the mood to smile. As he entered the barracks all the men immediately stood at attention and saluted him. He was still not used to the treatment. “At ease” he told them, and they continued their business. Some of them were eating a late breakfast. Others were just finishing up their patrol shift and preparing to head home.
    “Where are the Captains?” Aster asked aloud. Most of the men were too timid to speak up. A lot of them simply didn’t have an answer. Finally, one man stood and spoke.
    “Neither of them have been in yet, sir. But I’ve heard Captain Fayth is currently handling an overnight situation in the North Section.”
    “Find Venus. Tell her that I’ll be there as soon as I speak to Archen.”
    “Yes sir!” The guard practically bolted out the door, eager to impress the Commander with his willingness and haste.
    “The rest of you,” Aster said, “we’ve lost five men from the Southern barracks. Make arrangements to inform their families.” He paused for a moment, as his men looked to him for any words of explanation or comfort. He added, “As you know, we were attacked early this morning. We’re lucky we only lost five. It could have been much worse.” The men didn’t seem too comforted, but what else could he do? Give a rousing speech and pretend everything was okay? Everything was not okay, and his men knew well enough. Being a member of the Royal Guard put you right at the front lines of battling demons. That’s probably why their numbers were so low at the moment.
    Fleeing the tension in the room, Aster made a beeline to his office. There wasn’t much to be done in there, as the stacks of papers on his desk remained largely untouched since he inherited them. He mostly just wanted to escape the prying eyes of his troops. It wouldn’t be long before word spread of how it was his fault those men died. He didn’t know which was worse: the guilt of knowing he caused their deaths, or that he was more concerned with what his men would now think of him.
    He pushed a pile of papers forward to clear a place for his head and lay it down on the desk. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying to relax. When he opened them, just inches away from his face and buried under the papers was a small metal nameplate. The name engraved on it read “Commander Clarus Honore.” He removed it from underneath the paper, sending a few stacks to the floor in the process. Holding it in his hands, he zoned out staring at it for an unknown amount of time.
    Aster was eventually snapped out of it by a gentle knocking on his door. He sat up straight immediately; tall, powerful, and confident . “Enter,” he called. Through the door walked in Archen Loil, a long-time friend of Aster and current Captain.
    “ Commander ,” he began as a custom.
    “Drop the formalities, Captain, ” Aster replied.
    The two smiled, though only faintly. It was still too early in the day, and there was simply too much going on to be happy about it all. “It seems you’ve inherited quite the mess,” Archen joked in reference to the papers scattered on the desk and floor.
    “So it would seem,” Aster replied dully.
    “I heard you ran into some trouble already this morning.” Archen had given his friend the opportunity for small